“A patent-holding company that stands to win 12.5 cents for every iPhone sold has filed a new lawsuit against Apple,” Joe Mullin reports for Ars Technica. “Ironworks Patents LLC is a patent-enforcement company formed earlier this year, with no apparent business other than filing lawsuits over patents. It’s a business model that’s now decades old, and companies that engage in it are often derided as ‘patent trolls.'”

“The company has inherited a patent portfolio belonging to MobileMedia Ideas LLC, which has already proven its value. MobileMedia Ideas was a kind of ‘corporate troll,’ majority-owned by a patent pool called MPEG-LA. Minority stakes in MobileMedia were owned by Sony and Nokia, who also provided patents that could be used in lawsuits against other tech companies,” Mullin reports. “Last year, a Delaware federal jury found that Apple’s iPhone infringed a MobileMedia patent and ordered Apple to pay $3 million in damages. A judge later increased that amount to $10.7 million, or $0.125 per infringing unit, which included millions of iPhone 3G and iPhone 4 units.”

“While that case is on appeal, the MobileMedia portfolio was sold to Ironworks,” Mullin reports. “On Friday, Ironworks filed a new lawsuit seeking to ensure it has the rights to collect royalties for all later iPhone models—from the iPhone 4S all the way up to the still-not-shipped iPhone X.”

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5 Comments

Apple is always getting sucker-punched. Apple has a big bulls-eye tattooed on its corporate forehead making everyone want to take a shot at it.

Yeah, but nothing comes close to the EU money grab. I don’t know how it’s going to be settled but knowing Apple’s luck, they’re going to come out losers with Apple shareholders taking the brunt of the loss.

It’s one step forward and two steps back for Apple shareholders. One might almost think the iPhone was built on patent breaches. Jeez, after all these years they finally rear their ugly heads waiting for an opportune time to strike.

I hope she is better than Sewell who lost the stupid DOJ ebook case for hundreds of millions , had the Samsung case dwindle in the USA, lost a case in the UK where the judge forced Apple to Apologize to Samsung after losing a patent lawsuit, apologize in PRINT in a large typeface (specified by the judge) in the press TWICE (because Apple screwed up the Judges instructions in wording, the judge who later went to work for Samsung as ‘special counsel’ …. )

But the most infamous case WAS:

…. Apple losing the iPad name in China and they had to pay $60 million dollars for the word ‘iPad’.

They had licensed the name in TAIWAN and their Gazillion dollar earning lawyers (Sewell with shares earned tens of millions a year) thought that Taiwan was PART OF COMMUNIST MAINLAND CHINA and the license covered BOTH (or didn’t read the fine print) . The SAME GUY owned the iPad name in both countries but the contract ONLY COVERED TAIWAN (Apple lawyers as i said didn’t know the difference).

Apple started selling iPads in China and called them iPads and consequently the guy who had sold the iPad name to Apple for Taiwan for some tens of thousands suddenly (when he realized how big iPad was) sued them for hundreds of millions . Finally Apple was ordered to pay 60 million. (Note they could easily have bought the China part for another tens of thousands originally if they had understood the Taiwan/China issue)

At that time I said they should have called Apple stuff ‘Apple’ This or That (and save them from these ‘i” lawsuits, they’ve lost a bunch ) and they’ve DONE IT with the Apple Watch instead of iWatch.

recently Tim Cook’s said his life ambition was to be remembered as a ‘Good Guy’, I hope trolls don’t think that that makes Apple an easy target….